Industry News of the Day for May 15, 2020

Industry News:

• Axios, 5.14.20 – Sports Betting, Two Years Later
  • Two years ago, the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which had prevented states from creating their own sports betting regulations.
• ESPN, 5.14.20 – Sports Betting’s Growth In US ‘Extraordinary’
  • Two years after a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court, the growth of the new legal sports betting market has exceeded many stakeholders’ expectations and dramatically altered the relationship between sports leagues and the gambling industry.
• Legal Sports Report, 5.15.20 – Opinion: Finding Good For US Sports Betting Industry As World Pauses On PASPA Anniversary
  • Yesterday marked two years to the date the US sports betting gold rush started.

Overall Industry News:

• US Bets, 5.14.20 – Casinos Continue Reopening With ‘Villain Still At Large’
  • Amid the politicization of the COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. casino industry is starting to reopen its doors.

Sports League News:

• Gambling Compliance, 5.15.20 – NASCAR Set To Join Early U.S. Sports Return (subscription paywall)
  • NASCAR will be one of the earliest U.S. professional sports to return when it resumes races Sunday in South Carolina, but its interim content during the two-month layoff may have been the most successful offering of any of its American peers.

New Jersey:

• Online Poker Report, 5.14.20 – With No Brick-And-Mortar Alternatives In New Jersey, Online Gambling Continues To Thrive
  • With physical casinos in New Jersey still closed to prevent the coronavirus spread, online gambling is essentially the only source of revenue left for operators.
• PlayNJ, 5.14.20 – New Jersey Gaming News: NJ Online Casino Revenue Soars, Sports Begin To Return
  • It seems surreal that we are celebrating the legalization of sports betting without sports. That is beginning to change, however, with the return of NASCAR and the UFC.
• The Baltimore Sun, 5.14.20 – New Jersey Sports Betting Revenue Way Down In April, But Major Gains Made In Online Gaming And Poker
  • New Jersey released its gaming revenue results for April, which showed another sharp year-over-year dip amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

Pennsylvania:

• PlayPennsylvania, 5.14.20 – Slots, Craps And Masks: Casinos Begin Reopening, But When Will PA Follow?
  • Pennsylvania’s 12 casinos have been closed for about two months to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
• PlayPennsylvania, 5.14.20 – PA Gaming Review: False Starts For Horse Racing And Penn National Stock
  • It’s a mixed-bag week for wagering news in Pennsylvania amid the new normal brought on by the virus pandemic.

Rhode Island:

• Online Poker Report, 5.14.20 – Rhode Island Lottery Banking On New Online Games To Plug Revenue Leak
  • Folks in Rhode Island can now play instant lottery games and keno online. The products, powered by IGT, went live this week without much pomp for the circumstance.

New York:

• Elite Sports NY, 5.14.20 – Online Sports Betting Could Provide NY Financial Support Amid COVID-19
  • Although sports betting is legal in New York, online sports betting is not. Now might be the perfect time to change that.

Connecticut:

• The Day, 5.14.20 – Lawmakers Renew Call For Lamont To Address Casinos’ Shutdown
  • Ned Lamont could only lament Thursday the rampant unemployment that’s accompanied the coronavirus-induced shutdown of the casinos, a circumstance that prompted the region’s lawmakers to call for action.
• The Day, 5.14.20 – A Demand For Help For Our Hard-Hit Region
  • In a remarkable show of bipartisan unity, the state lawmakers representing southeastern Connecticut sent an urgent and necessary plea to Gov. Ned Lamont that his administration give the same attention to the economic damage being inflicted on our region as he did the health threat that hit harder elsewhere.

Michigan:

• PlayMichigan, 5.14.20 – Resolution Draft Targets Michigan AG Amid Tribal Casino Closures
  • Hundreds of Michigan residents marched the state capitol once again this week to protest actions by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• PlayMichigan, 5.14.20 – When Will Michigan Casinos Reopen During COVID-19 Pandemic?
  • The Hannahville Indian Community caused a stir in Michigan this month with an announcement the Island Resort and Casino would reopen last week.

Louisiana:

• Sports Handle, 5.14.20 – Louisiana Senate Sends Two Sports Betting Bills To House
  • While state legislatures across the country seem to be sitting back on considering legal sports wagering, Louisiana lawmakers are moving full steam ahead.
• The Advocate, 5.14.20 – Senate Again Backs Parish Votes On Sports Betting
  • For the second day in a row, the state Senate voted Thursday to allow individual parishes to decide whether to legalize sport wagering.

Texas:

• The Huntsville Item, 5.14.20 – Texas Should Reconsider Sports Gambling Laws
  • An overwhelming percentage of Americans — nearly 80%, according to a 2019 study by the American Gaming Association — support legalized sports gambling in the state they call home.

Oklahoma:

• Law360, 5.14.20 – Tribal Leaders Say Okla. AG Has Misread Gambling Compacts (subscription paywall)
  • Comanche Nation and Otoe-Missouria Tribe leaders have urged the U.S. Department of the Interior to approve gambling compacts they signed with Oklahoma’s governor, saying the state attorney general got it wrong when finding that the deals aren’t legal.